by T. R. Harris
“Something like that. Fortunately, Graham left Korash-Nor only about twelve hours before I did. He didn’t get too far before we began tracking. It’s just a matter of time before we find him.”
Riyad flashed his trademark white smile at Lila. As with all males, no matter the race, her potent pheromones affected the Human. He’d had a crush on her since the first day they met. By now, it was a harmless game he played with Adam’s immortal, genius daughter.
“My dear, you are looking as radiant as ever. As young and fresh as the first day we met.”
“That is because I do not age, Mr. Tarazi.” She cast him a spellbindingly beautiful smile. “But you have not come here to flirt. You have come for another reason. I sense it in my father.”
“That is correct,” Riyad said. “We come bearing news within a mystery, an enigma, you might say, suitable to your collective genius.”
Panur grinned. “You have our curiosity, Riyad. What is this enigma?”
Adam leaned against the table, facing the mutants. “The Expansion Bank in Balamar was recently robbed. It’s the fifth such bank to be hit. We just found out about it.”
Panur’s TeraDon expression displayed shock. He knew the reputation of the Expansion Credit System and instinctively realized the implication of the news.
“Five times this has happened? Please, tell me more.”
“It looks to have been done using teleportation technology. A forty-foot-in-diameter sphere was cut out of the center of the vault, taking everything with it.”
Lila and Panur looked at each other. Adam could see the wheels working behind their eyes.
Lila shook her head. “This is much more than simple teleportation technology, although the size of the event does make sense.”
“It does?” Riyad asked.
“Yes. A teleportation field can be just about any size. The limiting factor, however, is in the amount of matter contained within the field. Computing power is the key. The more matter, the more computing power is required to rebuild the matter at the endpoint. We can estimate the size of the computer system required, once we know what was extracted from the vault.”
“Credits,” Adam laughed. “A whole lot of them.”
“Along with the conveyance system,” Lila added, being as precise as a genius was expected to be.
“But that is only part of the story,” Panur said. “The vault is located five hundred feet below ground and surrounded by dense bedrock material. Teleportation fields over distance are notoriously inaccurate. And having to penetrate through solid material is even more difficult. To precisely aim a T-beam would require a guidance wave.”
“Quantum,” Lila said to him.
“It’s the only way. And then it would require an anchor point.”
Adam was shaking his head. “Okay, back up. What are you talking about?”
“A quantum field wave could penetrate the rock and provide a guideline for the T-field,” Lila explained. “You are familiar with only a small fraction of the capabilities of the quantum field generators the Aris perfected. You know them as quantum anchors, the means by which we were held in place at the Aris technician base and before.”
Adam was very familiar with quantum anchors. They create atomic contact points between normal space and something the mutants called the quantum universe. The points are constantly shifting, and as long as they’re present, the object they’re within can’t move, at least not on its own. The beam could be manipulated, carrying a person along with it. But if the field was created within a wall, then when the beam moved, the wall would be torn apart.
“Yes,” Panur said. “The Q-field would serve as both a guideline and an extractor for the teleportation field. Very clever, and far beyond any of the applications used to date. But again, it would require an anchor.”
“What do you mean, an anchor?” Riyad asked.
“The beams cannot focus on the vault without an endpoint anchor, or beacon, if that makes it more understandable,” Lila said.
“So, something had to be in the vault ahead of time to guide the beams there?” Adam ventured.
“It is the only way, a prerequisite for this type of application,” said Lila.
“But how could the bad guys have done that? No one has access to the vault, not even bank employees,” Riyad said. “It takes a Juirean supervisor and a team of techs to crack open the vault. We know, we just came from one and saw the process in action.”
Panur smiled his handsome TeraDon smile. “That is true, Riyad; however, ask yourself what is allowed into the vault?”
“I just told you, no one but the supervisor and techs.”
“Think more creatively, what you call out of the box.”
Riyad shook his head, exasperated. “I … I don’t know—”
“Credits!” Adam spoke up.
“Dammit!” Riyad yelled. “I was just about to say that.”
“Then you are both correct. Juirean credits are the only things that have unobstructed access to the vault. And what are JCs but elaborate circuit boards full of proprietary software. All one would need to do is make a simple modification to a chip, and one would have the beacon required.”
“Wouldn’t the security measures have noticed that?”
“That would depend. If the modification came an addition to the chip rather than an alteration, then it would be difficult to detect.”
“That makes sense,” Adam said. “The Overlord said they were able to determine which banks would be hit next by stolen credits showing up in the target bank’s inventory. That’s why the thieves make the deposits, to place the anchors.”
“My friends, we have a way to stop the thefts!” Riyad exclaimed. “All we need to do is remove any of the stolen credits, and the thieves won’t have access to the vault.”
Although he just stated what he thought was a solution to the bank robberies, Riyad appeared disappointed, an expression Lila noticed.
“What is the issue, Mr. Tarazi?”
“I was hoping this would be something more difficult to counter so we could offer Lerpiniere fields to all the Expansion banks. Together we could have made a fortune.”
“We do not care about money,” Lila said. “However, knowing that this technology exists will initiate a tightening of the security protocols here at the facility. The Formation is located in a chamber four stories below, and just like credits in the banks, it is now vulnerable to teleportation. And you are correct. A Lerpiniere field will be required to prevent that from happening, should certain parties seek to take it.”
Riyad flashed his trademark white smile. “Glad I could help.”
“Unfortunately, removing stolen credit chips will not put an end to the thefts,” Panur said. “All the thieves would have to do is alter a chip that hasn’t been stolen, and there would be no way of detecting the incursion. Once they realize that the Juireans tracked their movements to the Balamar bank, it won’t be too difficult to figure out how. The modified credits are the only common denominator. The thieves won’t do that again.”
“If they’re smart,” Adam said sarcastically.
“The thieves are extremely smart,” Panur countered. “They’re uniquely utilizing disparate technologies. They know how to focus and expand teleportation technology, as well as the creation and utilization of quantum anchors. And then the credit chip modification. That in itself is not an easy task. I’m afraid you’re up against a very formidable adversary.”
“Which begs the question, who could do this?” Adam asked.
Panur grinned and looked to Lila for confirmation. She nodded.
“The Gracilians, who else?” Panur said. “They dissected the ancient service modules to learn the secrets of teleportation. Then they were present at the Aris base at the time of Stimmel and learned to use the anchors on us in record time. While there, they had access to the Aris computers and undoubtedly absconded with enough data so they could create the fields themselves. It can be no other.”
/> Adam wasn’t surprised. “The Gracilians have been in disarray since Stimmel’s death. They supported him when he threatened to use the dark matter against the galaxy, and now they’re being cast as his accomplices in everything he was trying to do. We’re watching them like hawks. They’re confined to Gracilia until we can figure out the proper punishment.”
“That doesn’t matter,” the mutant said. “This is a small group of highly skilled scientists doing this. Once they assembled the necessary equipment, it can be moved from site to site and operated by only a handful of techs.”
“From a spaceship?”
“That would be my guess. The generators would be large, and the power requirements immense. Then the computers would have to be some of the most advanced in the galaxy for the reassembly of the extracted matter.”
“All right, let’s think about that,” Adam said. “Besides a decent size ship, what other requirements would be needed to carry out such an operation?”
“Line of sight would be preferred,” Lila said. “There would already be enough interference from the bedrock that adding in local topography would be enough to disrupt the field beams, even with an anchor. The ship would have to be in orbit during the theft.” Lila frowned. “You must also realize what a danger this technology can be.”
“That’s right,” Riyad said. “No bank would be safe if this technology got out in the open.”
“It is much more serious than that, Mr. Tarazi. As you are probably aware, only inanimate objects can teleport safely. That is why the technology was used exclusively in the service modules and nothing else. To break a living organism apart would kill it, even if the parts reassemble afterward. The only living beings who could theoretically teleport are Panur and me. We cannot die, and our cells can reassemble in whole at the endpoint. However, imagine this beam placed on a battlefield, using whatever focusing beacons as necessary. Entire armies could be teleported away, only to die in the process.”
“Damn, I hadn’t thought of that,” Riyad gasped. “Couldn’t L-fields protect them?”
“Yes, that would be the only way. However, each individual would have to be fitted with a personal L-field, one that would remain active at all times. No place would be safe, be it behind the lines or in ships in space. Wherever an anchor can be placed, the beams will have access.”
“That is good to know—I guess. But back to the robberies,” Riyad said. “How long would it take to pull one off, if one had the ship and equipment to do so?”
“Only a second or two. Once the beams have locked onto the location, the T-field surveys the site and convert all matter into transportable particles. Then the Q-field retracts, drawing out the T-beam. The teleport material would then filter through a computer for the reassembly process. That process would take the most time. For a volume as you’ve described, and with an estimated density, it could take thirty minutes or more to rebuild the file.”
“But that could be done aboard a starship?”
“With a large enough cargo space left over after installing the other equipment, yes. An above average size freighter, a C-class or larger, would suffice. And the reconstruction would have to be done at the time of transfer. That much crucial information could not be stored for long in a computer without data bleed, and transferring it through comm lines would degrade the signal even more.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Adam said with enthusiasm. He wasn’t looking to nab the perpetrators himself, but he did want to impress the Overlord with the information he’d gathered in a short time. Of course, it would be better if Adam and his small security patrol could bring the thieves to justice. That would be … excellent.
Why? Because screw the Juireans. That’s why.
Chapter 10
Adam noticed the worried look on Panur’s face. The expression would have been harder to detect if he were in his grey master body. But TeraDon was Humanoid through and through making his body language more transparent.
“What’s wrong, Panur? You should be happy. You and Lila have given us enough information to catch these assholes. It’s just a matter of looking for the right size ship that was in orbit at the time of the heist.”
Adam now realized that Lila’s expression matched that of Panur.
“What’s the matter?”
“It is the quantum anchors,” Lila answered. “There is much more to them than first suspected.”
“What do you mean?”
Panur took up the lecture. He waved an arm at the room. “Since this facility has become the central repository for all things Aris, we have learned much in the past two years about our ancient friends and the technologies they employed.”
“That’s why everything is sent here,” Riyad pointed out. “Who better to discover the secrets of the Aris?”
Panur gave him a weak smile. “That is true; however, in the course of our investigation, we have learned a startling truth. At the time of the Aris, there was another advanced race in the galaxy.”
“Another super race?” Adam asked. “Who were they?”
“The translated name is the Loz.” Panur said, “and they were a mutated form of Aris, the result of early DNA manipulation before the time of the Formation.”
Adam laughed. “So, the dim-witted cousins, the produce of incest?”
“To the contrary, father,” Lila said. “The Loz were anything but dim-witted. They were every bit the equal of the Aris, and in some ways superior. But because their population was small, the Aris managed the reproduction of the Loz, keeping them in line and using them more as test subjects for their longevity experiments than anything else. They were an unnamed class of being, rated even lower than the Technicians.”
“And you learned of the Loz how?” Adam asked.
“Various decoded documents we’ve recovered,” Panur said. “The artifact hunters cared little for the paper fragments, focusing instead on larger objects they could hold in their hands and sell for exorbitant profit. However, toward the end of their reign, the Aris gravitated back to writing to record their histories. As we have explained before, the parchment they used was much more advanced than paper and served more like notational computers than anything else. To the salvagers, these pieces of Aris paper had little value since they didn’t understand the writing or how advanced was the material. After Lila and I learned the ancient Aris language, these fragments began to tell an incredible story.”
“Indeed, they did,” Lila said, picking up the narrative. “At the end of the Second Epoch, only a few races survived, with the seeds of new life only just beginning to take root. These neophyte races would eventually evolve to become the species of Third Epoch, the one in which we are currently living. It was this primordial material that the Aris manipulated using their Formation formulas. During this time, the Aris kept the Loz under their control, not allowing them to participate in the advancements the race was making on their long path to immortality.”
Lila stopped and looked at Panur. Adam got the impression she was conceding the big reveal to her paramour. Panur nodded.
“To the horror of the Aris, it was the Loz who originally discovered the Formation,” Panur stated. “And it was the Loz who first learned how to use it.”
Adam frowned, not seeing the significance. “So what? What does that mean in the overall scheme of things?”
“It means that the Aris stole the Formation from the Loz.”
“Okay. Tough luck.”
Panur pursed his lips in frustration. “You do not grasp the significance. The Loz learned how to use the device long before the Aris and were already altering their DNA to supplant the Aris as the last surviving super race of the Second Epoch. The race began to develop in unusual ways, following a variety of different evolutionary paths and in a greatly accelerated timeframe.”
“Good for them,” Adam said. “It sounds as if they were being shit upon by the Aris anyway. Time for some payback.”
“Unfortunately, the Loz didn’t ge
t the chance to finish their experiments,” Panur said. “The discovery of what they were doing had a catastrophic effect at the time, precipitating an all-out war between the brother races. Although small in number, the Loz had incredible power, both physically and mentally. In a way, they achieved the Aris’ goal of immortality, but in a crude and haphazard manner. It was during this war that the Aris acquired the Formation and learned of its secrets. They also developed quantum anchor technology, but not merely as a suppression device, but as a weapon against the Loz, and specifically against the few Master Loz, as they were called. The anchors we are familiar with are much more then they appear. Our first assumption was they were just an advanced form of suspension beam, for which they performed extremely well, able to hold even Lila and me in place, not a simple feat. But that is only a small part of their function.”
“You have to go slow for us,” Riyad said, “especially now that you’re talking about quantum stuff. I remember discussions as a student at the University of Florida as a youth. I could never fully grasp the concept of quantum mechanics.”
“Be assured, I will not attempt to provide you with the information,” Panur said impatiently. “It would only confuse you more. Even your top scientists have little understanding as to the full nature of the quantum universe. It is not necessary for them—or you—to know. But one aspect of quantum anchor technology is that it is only half of the equation. For every beam created, there is an opposite mirror effect. You may know this effect as quantum entanglement.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Adam said. “But don’t ask me to explain it.”
“I won’t,” Panur said. “But are you aware that Continuous Wormhole communications function because of this phenomenon?”
“I thought that worked through miniature gravity wells,” Riyad said.